The Library of Eden
by Ellastasia
Summary: The Planet is turned upside-down by Shinra, again, and things only get worse from there...
1. Prologue

She slowly pulled herself up to eye level with the railing. A lone white-coated figure stood by the table with his back to her. Obviously he was intensely involved in his research. She looked around the room. A strong vinegar odor hung thick in the air and it was as cold in here as the January air outside. Tools and objects were piled randomly on top of the tables and counters. It had to be in here somewhere! All she needed was that one last ingredient and her experiment would work and she'd graduate with satisfaction. Suddenly she saw the professor turn and she jerked back behind the railing. She heard footsteps. No, they weren't coming nearer…they seemed to be walking away! She craned her neck and looked up from behind the barricade and saw the white coat disappear into a doorway and abruptly everything was bathed in blackness.

/Crap, I knew I should've brought a flashlight,/ she scolded herself as she stood up from her hiding place. Stepping over the railing that fenced in the research lab from the observatory, Ellie found her way towards the counter where she had last seen her chemical ingredient.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light coming in from the skylight above and she began fumbling through the labels and test tubes. Everyone always thought that a science lab was the number one place for cleanliness and order, but actual reality proved this wrong. Ellie cussed under her breath as she repetitively picked up and put down test tubes. She hated this job and wished for that lab assistant dying for her orders. Not that it'd ever happen.

She found her test tube and carefully slipped it into her jacket pocket. Now, for her escapade mission. She leaped over the railing and ran through the observatory to the door. Her hand jolted to a stop when she put her hand on the doorknob.

/Shit./ She looked around the room. The only window available was the skylight, and the door the professor had gone out of was most likely locked as well. Time for Plan B.

She reached into her left jacket pocket. Nothing. She reached into her right jacket pocket, and only the test tube was in there. /Dammit!/ Screw Plan B. The rope must've fallen out of her pocket when she was running across the parking lot before. Now she only had two options. Bang on the door for help or sit down and cry. Ellie wasn't about to take either of them.

She looked up at the skylight. It had to be approximately ten feet off the ground, and in no way in hell could she jump that high. Or maybe… A table and chair would make up for most of the height as long as she made it to the window and out. As quietly as she could, Ellie pulled and shoved a table from the observatory and a stool from the lab underneath the skylight. Trying to keep her balance steady, she climbed the stool, reached for the swivel handle and unswiveled it. All the rotating made her dizzy, and as she pulled herself out the window, her foot slipped. She heard the stool crash down onto the table and roll onto the concrete floor. She painfully squinted her face and pulled the rest of her body through the window. /There is no way in hell no one heard that,/ she mused.

The roof was at a slant, and Ellie made her way to the lowest point before jumping off and crashing into the bushes below. She spat out a leaf from her mouth and checked her pocket to make sure nothing had broken. She got up and made her way across the lawn towards her dormitory.

* * *

"And what exactly are you doing with that?" Gina asked impulsively as Ellie walked in.

"Nothing that would be of your business, my friend."

"Don't call me that." Ellie rolled her eyes. Her English major roommate could never understand anything that Ellie did, and she made it possible that Ellie's college life would be a living hell. But that was alright. Ellie would get her back later.

She went to her desk where her science project rested. It looked like two soda cans placed ten inches apart connected by an assortment of wires. On top of the cans were holes for adding the ingredients. Five tubes that ended in finger-size caps came out of each of the cans. Ellie pulled out from her drawer her ingredients and added her new element to the pile. She heard Gina's chair scraping on the floor and heard her footsteps come to her desk.

"What the hell is that?" Ellie didn't turn her head as she started pouring in the chemicals into each of the cans.

"It's a device-"

"No really?" Gina interrupted.

"Fuck you! It's something that's due for science tomorrow. I gotta prove my thesis that time travel can be achieved by a simple combination of certain chemicals rather than using machines." There was a pause.

"Is that like the same thing that movie 'Inspector Gadget' was about?"

"Hell no, that's gotta do with molecular structure and crap. This is about time travel. You know, like 'The Time Machine.'"

"I don't believe in that stuff."

"Well you wanna try this thing then?" Ellie exclaimed. She had finished pouring in her chemicals.

"Hell no!"

"You afraid it's gonna work?"

"No, I bet you a million bucks that thing's gonna kill me. Me an' science just don't mix."

"Well you can have your way," Ellie replied. She sat down in her chair and placed her device in front of her. She first placed her right hand on the right can and placed the caps on each finger.

"Umm…Gina? Can you do me a favor and uh, put those caps on my fingers?"

Gina looked at Ellie for a second before she reached over and placed the caps on her fingers.

"So what's supposed to happen? Why're you doin' this anyway?" Gina questioned.

"Well I gotta see if it works or not-"

"But what if it does? How're you coming back?"

"That's why I gotta test it," Ellie replied. That answer worked for the moment. She continued. "Can you pour in a little of that green stuff in each of the cans?"

"Sure…" Gina started pouring it into the right can, and almost immediately Ellie saw the yellowish-green liquid begin to seep into the tubes toward her fingers. If all went right, the chemicals would reach the capsule at the end near her fingers and react with the chemicals in there, creating a radioactive combustion radiating into whatever it was into her fingertips and to the rest of her body.

"Where do you think you'll go? I mean time travel can mean alotta things. You could go in the future or past, or someplace else-! That'd be so amazing!" She finished pouring into the right container and began on the left. The liquid in the tubes were almost to her right fingertips. "Are you even sure it's gonna work?" Gina continued. "I mean, you could end up dying or something, I mean chemicals can be really dangerous you know?"

"Will you please, you're startin' to sound like my mom," Ellie mumbled.

"This thing's not gonna kill you is it?" Gina asked.

"Of course not."

"So how're you gonna know where you're going?"

"I don't, okay? So chill out." The liquid was an inch away from the capsule.

"And are you sure it's time travel? What if you end up in another place, or if this thing like screws up and ends up making you a little kid or something?"

Ellie was silent.

"That's it! You /don't/ know! You're stupid you know that? /Real/ stupid. Who knows what this thing's gonna do, I mean get real!"

Ellie watched as the liquid reached the capsule and felt a strong heat begin to radiate from the caps. She was getting too excited to pay attention to what Gina was saying.

Suddenly everything seemed to quiver, and the lamp on her desk seemed to shrink then grow huge. It seemed like Gina's voice was fading in the distance… "-how am I supposed to tell your parents that I helped you kill yourself in some stupid experiment? I mean what are the chances of this even working? Ellie? Ellie!? Ellie!!"

Gina watched in terror as Ellie's entire body seemed to be flickering. Ellie could hear Gina screaming, but it seemed to get softer, and softer…everything was black and white, then everything seemed to be gray…


	2. Vertigo

"Hey…hey, wake up!" Ellie moaned and turned over onto her side.

The light was too bright and she squinted her eyes distastefully.

"No, wake up!" She felt someone shaking her shoulder. She figured she was in her dorm, considering she was lying on a hard surface just like her bed. She waved her hand towards the person's face.

"Just another five minutes Gina, I already finished my project…" she mumbled.

"Gina? I'm not Gina."

Ellie paused in her breath. Project? Not Gina? Suddenly it clicked in her head. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself lying on concrete facing a metal wall. /What the hell…?/ She turned her head and pulled herself up. She felt dizzy and for a moment everything was swirling.

"Whoa, take it easy there, you look kinda sick. You need a doctor?"

"No…no, I'm fine thanks." Ellie exclaimed. /Omigod it worked!/

"Where am I?" she asked.

"…what?" Ellie turned her head to look at the speaker. She looked young and had reddish hair.

"Who're you?" She asked.

"I'm Maya, what's your name?"

"Ellie…so where am I?"

"You're in Sector III you moron, where else would you be?"

"Sector III? Where the hell is that?"

"You gotta be kidding me. Look, I have to go home. Where do you live?"

"Not here," Ellie replied. It seemed as if she was in a city. It smelled like industrial pollution and neon lights seemed to be dominating over the setting suns' light.

"What do you mean, 'not here?'"

"I can explain-"

"Then come along," Maya exclaimed as she got up. Ellie followed.

Some space-like cars were passing by on the road. Did she go into the future? She followed Maya a few steps before she began asking questions again.

"So where is Sector III?"

Maya turned her head. "Sector 3 is in Vertigo alright? And can I ask a question? Where are /you/ from?"

"I'm from New York,"

"Never heard of it." They approached a train station, and Ellie looked around in wonder. /Just where the hell am I? Vertigo…? Isn't that a disease?/ Maya interrupted her thoughts.

"Do you have ID?"

"ID? For what?"

"You're not from around here are you…well then I don't think you can take the train."

"But you can't just leave me here-I've never been here before!"

"So? That's your thing, I cannot help you."

And with that she stepped onto the train.

Ellie took a step back.

/Bitch,/ she mused and looked for somewhere to sit down on.

A lone bench sat near the corner of the street, bathed in a musty yellow street lamp from above it. She sighed. From what it seemed to look like, it was early evening and everybody seemed to be going home. Maybe the lamps appearing in the windows on the rusty, cheap-looking metal buildings suggested it, but either way, Ellie wished she could have somewhere to stay, too. From her experience in cities, it looked as if she were in a pretty big one. She'd have to ask a nicer passer-by about it, because Maya offered almost no help at all.

She spotted a pedestrian on what looked to be a dirt bike coming towards her. Hopefully he wasn't going onto the next train that she had heard approaching a few seconds ago.

Sure enough, when she put her head down, she heard the engine whir to a stop in front of her.

"Hey, miss the train?"

She looked up.

His hair was all black, almost sooty, and his clear blue eyes flashed under the shadows of his locks.

"Um…well actually I'm new here, and I don't know where I am." That should be clear enough.

"Well you're in Sector III…buut the expression on your face tells me you don't know where that is…hmm." Ellie just stared at him. The man continued,

"Well where did you come from?"

"New York."

"…where's that?"

"Uumm...in the US,"

"Is that some kind of company or something?"

Ellie looked at him a little longer before turning away. /What the hell is he talking about? Why doesn't he know where the US is…or maybe I went into the future and there ain't no more America…Damn./ "Hey, do you have like a map or something? That I could, you know, reference to."

"Yeah sure, back at my apartment. Well it's obvious to me that you sure don't know where you're going, 'cause you don't even know where you're from!"

Ellie looked at him taken aback.

"Here, just hop on," he exclaimed as he mounted his bike-thingy.

"Okay…" Ellie climbed on behind him. He revved the motorbike and they disappeared into the city.

* * *

Ellie sat by herself on the crudely made sofa. Everything here smelled metallic, even the cloth on the couch. In her hands was the promised map, and it was nothing that she had expected. Either she had been transported into the past, which didn't seem possible at all, or she had gone into a totally different world, because the continents did not look in the least bit like the planet Earth.

"Shelby?" She exclaimed when she looked up from the map.

She sat in his apartment, eighteen stories high with an almost magnificent view from the balcony outside. The apartment itself was rather small, but enough for two people. She didn't know why she thought that, only because she figured she didn't have anywhere else to go for now. A television rambled on in the corner of the room, unnoticed by Ellie. Her concerns were more towards where she was. The thought of how to go back wasn't so significant…yet.

"Yeah?" Shelby was in the kitchen preparing something for her since he insisted. What a nice gentleman. You don't find one like that everyday.

"Could you come here for a sec?" She heard a clatter in the kitchen and he appeared in the doorway, mittens on his hands.

"Um…what the hell are you doing in there? You cater or something?"

"Well actually I'm a mechanic."

Ellie burst out in laughter. "Yeah okay,"

Shelby returned a perplexed look.

"So anyway, Shelby-nice name by the way-I wanted to ask you some questions about this map."

Shelby rolled his eyes and turned back to the kitchen. "What the hell is wrong with you? We're on Planet, and the map just so happens to be accurate!"

He had given that same answer to her when he first gave her the map.

"Haha, and fuck you," Ellie replied sardonically.

She stood up and stretched. She'd ask later when she was eating. Actually, she didn't want any food right now. She had picked up a McDonalds before she had gone on her quest to get the missing chemical and add it to her witch cauldron, which must have been…she looked at her watch…approximately four hours ago. /I wonder how Gina's doing…/

She walked over to the glass doors leading out to the balcony. She didn't want to go into the kitchen, since she knew guys didn't like to be watched when they were performing "unmanly" things. She looked up towards the night sky, but all she saw was a darkened greenish haze above the city, somewhat like what Los Angeles has floating above their town. The town seemed to be circular shaped with a massive wall surrounding it. She couldn't see outside the boundaries since it was too dark, and she could see towards the west some kind of enormous building that was in the center of the city. The city seemed to be divided into walled-in zones.

A vague familiar feeling rushed over her as she looked out over the metropolis…or at least it looked like one.

"Ain't it one hell of a city?"

Ellie turned around and saw Shelby placing a plate on the table in front of the sofa.

"Yeah…someone told me it's called Vertigo." She exclaimed as she walked back to the sofa.

"Vertigo, eh? That must've been from someone that works for Shinra."

"Shinra…?" Ellie looked up at him. That name sounded familiar.

"Well, that's what the company's called. No one in the Shinra line is around anymore as far as I know. The president-egh, she's not even capable to run her own life-just decided to keep that name. You know, people are really ignorant."

Ellie grinned slightly. /Yeah, people are like that, you just realized that now?/ "Yeah, that pretty much explains the total human population right there. Shinra…I know I've heard that name somewhere before…just can't place where though."

"…Couldn't help you there. And everyone knows that this place is really called Neo-Midgar, it's just that they didn't want it to seem so obvious, that's why they call it Vertigo."

"Midgar…" It sounded like something so familiar. She'd have to think more about it later.

"Well anyway…" Shelby turned to the television. Ellie politely nibbled on a piece of food that tasted like brussel sprouts but looked more like a sausage.

"Who takes care of this place?"

"Scarlet." Shelby mumbled. He looked as if he was obsessed with the TV set.

She picked up the map again. It looked as if it had gone through a monsoon and much of the print was smeared. She found Vertigo…it was on the Eastern Conti…she couldn't make out the rest. She looked at the other names…Jun…it didn't make sense. She stared at it for a moment. Then it suddenly clicked.

Junon! Now she remembered! All the names had come from that little video game she had played in high school…she couldn't quite remember what it was called.

She turned to Shelby.

"How long has it been since um…what was it? Asteroid…no, Meteor?"

Shelby looked at her curiously. "What…? I thought you said you weren't from around here…how do you know about that?"

How would she explain it to him?

"Well, um…Well it's a long story, but I just remembered something from my history book back in school," she lied. It seemed plausible enough.

Shelby looked at her for a moment.

"Well, it's been about seven years I take it."

"That's amazing! Stuff me with feathers and call me a chicken, I'm /here/? That's so retarded!"

"What's so retarded?"

"Never mind." She couldn't tell him she had played a game that was about this planet, that'd be too insulting to tell anyone here. She could almost laugh it seemed so stupid. But Scarlet was president? She could only remember bits and pieces of what the story had been, but had Scarlet been the one that always said, 'Kya ha ha'…? She couldn't remember, it had been about six years or so. "When was this place built?"

"About three years ago."

Ellie was curious. "How come it's so smoggy outside then? I mean isn't that a little quick to get so polluted?"

"It's the planet."

"You mean to say we're in the same situation as before?"

"Yes…whose side are you on?"

"…what?"

"Are you for Shinra?"

"No…"

"That's great!" Shelby grinned at her, and a new light seemed to sparkle from his blue eyes.

Ellie smiled back.

"Say," Shelby exclaimed. "Have you heard about Scarlet's new idea to find Eden?"

"…Eden?"

"Eden's kind of like the Promised Land. The new professor of Shinra, Chrezzo, discovered some documents from the Ancients in the Forgotten City. Personally, I believe they should've never been found. They had to tear up a few structures in order to find the thing, and if it's located in that kind of place, it should never have been found in the first place."

Ellie was silent.

Shelby sat silent for a moment before getting up.

"Well if you don't mind, I have to get some rest. Being a mechanic isn't the best job to have."

Ellie nodded.

Shelby got up, walked towards the door to the bedroom, and closed the door. Ellie turned the television off. She stood up, walked over to the balcony doors, and stepped outside. In the distance surrounding her she could hear some kind of humming like a machine, but a heavy silence seemed to fall around her. The city lights below her cast an eerie glow on the streets. There wasn't too much life in the streets at this time. So this was Neo-Midgar. Interesting. She was in a video game. Very interesting. There was still one problem.

/He didn't tell me what Eden's all about./


	3. The Mercenary

In the morning, Shelby had told her to stay home because the streets probably wouldn't be the safest place around for her. She had rolled her eyes, but for some reason she did stay home and had watched the television all day. Shelby's apartment didn't hold much. The food was different, he had hardly any books-probably because he was a mechanic ((duh))-and everything seemed too cold and crisp. Unfriendly was more like it. Shelby had told her that when he got home he would show her around town. Shelby was such a gentleman, and Ellie couldn't help but smile. Even her past boyfriends weren't quite that polite. Must be the society. She heard the click of the lock on the door and she glanced up at the clock. He was quite early, and she turned her head as he walked in.

"Requested off early so we wouldn't have to walk around at night." Shelby explained.

Ellie shrugged. Sometimes he seemed too polite.

After Shelby cleaned up, the two walked out of the apartment and made their way down the building.

* * *

"So how do you like it?"

The two were walking down a rather empty street. The sun had just set, and the air was getting cooler. They just had a light meal at some informal restaurant that reminded her of Wendy's. Not exactly her favorite place.

"It's a nice place." She sort of meant it.

She could understand how some people in that video game liked the city and believed in Shinra. Of course he hadn't shown her the slums, and of course the place existed. He had only shown her the sector they were in, since she couldn't ride the train. Security check would go crazy if they found a citizen on the planet that weren't on their records. As far as history went, things like that never happened. Shelby told her that he would get a fake ID for her soon so she could look at the rest of the sectors.

They walked side by side down the sidewalk. A three-wheeled vehicle passed by quickly, blowing up a breeze that roused up papers and debris on the side of the street. They were silent. One by one, they could see the street lights blinking on as the red in the sky deepened to a purple hue. Blinded windows brightened, indicating the citizens were arriving home and getting ready to settle down. A calm set over Ellie. She loved the city, but this didn't seem like the cities she knew. This place seemed more docile.

"The place is so quiet. Is it always like this?"

Shelby shrugged. Somehow he sensed that calm too. /This is weird. Something's not right…/

Ellie could feel it. It was too quiet. They continued walking.

Suddenly, two burly-looking men jumped out from an alley a few feet in front of them.

Shelby jumped back, pulling Ellie along with him.

"What the hell!?" Ellie exclaimed, her suspicions coming true. She saw the two men wielding nothing more than two clumsy-looking bats. Ellie screeched and ran towards them.

She heard Shelby yell something, but she couldn't quite hear what it was. Methodically, with a flip of a limb, she flipped one man over and knocked the club out of the other.

"I'll teach you to jump me!" She kicked the standing man onto the concrete sidewalk. "C'mon Shelby, gimme a hand!"

He stood agape on the sidewalk, and Ellie angrily looked at him before pinning down the man onto the ground. She saw from the corner of her eye the first man dizzily standing up to his feet. He was too far away to trip, and by the time Shelby began chasing him, he already had a good head start.

Ellie rolled her eyes and looked up.

A few curtains fell back to their original position and shadows disappeared from nearby windows. The man below her was whimpering, and she let him go, annoyed. "Don't you fuckin' do that again…fucker!" She yelled after him as he limped away as fast as he could. The returning Shelby watched him as the man lumbered by him and disappeared into an alley to lick his wounds.

"Sorry I let him get away,"

"Don't be sorry, just next time, hurry the hell up alright?"

Shelby looked at her peculiarly.

"Where'd you learn how to fight like that?"

Ellie wasn't in her most pleasant mood right now, and if Shelby got into one of his little polite moods, she knew she was going to flip.

"Well I got my black belt when I was sixteen," she replied, and began walking down the street.

Shelby was silent as he fell into step behind her.

"You know, I need a really good beer right now," She stopped and turned back at the uneasy Shelby. "You know of any decent bars around this place?"

Shelby nodded and signaled her to follow him up the street. She trailed him around two blocks into a more unfriendly-looking neighborhood, where up ahead she could see a dimly lit storefront advertising some no-name alcoholic beverage. Or at least she had no idea what it was.

"Better damn well be as good as my Corona," she grumbled as Shelby walked inside with her close behind.

A few people behind the counter murmured some greetings to Shelby.

/Oh, so mister oh-so-polite-to-all-the-ladies just so happens to go to a lowlife joint too…/ she laughed to herself as she took a seat on a stool.

"Gimme all you got," she exclaimed to the tender, as she looked around the bar.

The air stunk with bittersweet booze and whatever they called a cigarette. It wasn't exactly like the white clouds of opium or any kind of plant found in the garden, or of those leaves grown on farms…she'd have to try one sometime.

The attendant slid a tall glass to her, and she closed her eyes as the burning liquid went down her throat. For a few minutes, she was lost in empty thought staring into a flashing television above her. Her mind suddenly roused, she looked for Shelby. He was seated right beside her, but he was turned the other way talking with someone else.

"Hey," Ellie exclaimed as she shoved his shoulder aside to look at the speaker. He looked younger than Shelby, probably 22 or something.

"Hi." He exclaimed, looking straight into her eyes.

She didn't like that.

"And who the hell do you think you are?"

He said nothing.

Shelby intervened. "This' Amos, a friend of mine. He's a mercenary so he's usually here waitin' for a job to come around."

Ellie refused to smile. Something about him she didn't like. He still said nothing. Ellie shook her head, leaned back in her stool and took another drink. Next time she'd get the shots, and after that…

* * *

The light. Ohh, the light…Ellie moaned and turned over. She felt herself floating for a moment, and suddenly ended with a hard jolt to her entire body. She opened a single eye and found herself staring floor-level at the leg of a table a few inches from her face. She squinted her eyes and attempted to sit up. She finally achieved to balance on her two hands after the third try. She thought she was back in her dorm…but the windows were different…it smelled different…at least asides from the beer.

"Oh yeah…" Ellie groaned as she recalled the scenes of her last memory. Angry faces…arguing…she'd have to ask Shelby about it. Where the hell was he anyway? She pulled herself back onto the sofa. It looked like midday, but it was hard to tell because of the smog overcast above the city. She heard unsteady footsteps from the bedroom, and it seemed like hours before she saw a blurry figure standing at the doorway with one hand supporting himself.

/Pathetic, / Ellie looked in disgust. Her eyes adjusted to see it as that friend of Shelby's. However, the only difference was, he seemed to have a new scar above his forehead and a bruised eye. /Hmm…shouldn't be messin' with the wrong people there buddy./

"And what makes you rise up so early in the damn morning?" Ellie exclaimed.

It was a moment before he responded.

"Shelby told me to take care of the little bitch who got him kicked outta his joint,"

Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Why didn't you go home you faggot…you don't gotta take care of me."

He turned around back into the bedroom, stumbling over his own feet mumbling that he ain't got nothing.

/Guess he got stoned too…oh what the hell./ She stood up unsteadily and stretched. The clock exclaimed it was only early afternoon. If the days were the same as when she had first come here, today would be…Friday. She wasn't homesick…yet. She heard…what was his name? Amy…? No, no, Amos…collapse on the bed. She made her way to the bathroom as quickly as she could as the first cramp began to wrench in her abs.

When she made her way back to the living room, Amos was seated, no, sprawled, onto the sofa. Now it was Ellie's turn to stand in the doorway, hands on her hips.

"How freakin' rude of you to take my seat you bastard," she gave him a dirty look and went over to her designated spot facing the balcony.

He only shrugged.

"Why the hell do you gotta problem with me?"

"'Cause I don't like you."

Amos turned his head. "That ain't no reason."

"Well it is enough for me."

"And what position are you coming from to say something like that huh? Why should I give a damn what you think about me?"

"Because I give a damn, you moron. Keep your own feelings to yourself, I ain't no shrink to listen to your problems." She waited for a reply but there was none. She waited a few minutes before turning around.

Amos was staring off into space in the wall. He almost seemed to have an intelligent look, but nothing of him appeased Ellie. It was his freakin' attitude. /If he wasn't so damn rude, he could be a better person./ She turned back to looking outside. She watched as a helicopter flew by, the Shinra logo painted brightly on the side.

/How the hell am I supposed to get back to where I came from…?/ the thought dawned on her. She didn't want to be stuck in a video game for the rest of her life. It had to be a dream. A pretty damn good one at that too. She sighed and walked to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. She couldn't think right now. What she could use right now was a good long nap.

* * *

"Kya ha ha!" Scarlet shrieked.

Chrezzo stood at her desk in silence. Someday he'd have to stop her incessant laughter.

"So you think that we can just go find the place and capture it? Put yourself in my position hotshot, it's not so easy."

"Well ma'am, we can always use our militia-"

"They aren't made for that kind of assignments. Just leave it to me, I'll think of something."

Without a word, Chrezzo slithered out the door.

Scarlet flopped down onto her chair. /Soldier…it could be…/

She buzzed the intercom for the new head of the Weapon's Department, Heidegger. He seemed capable enough to take her former position. Of course he had his complaints and groans when she claimed herself president, but that was his problem. Then she had the strenuous job of trying to find replacements. There was some hesitation to put Reeve back into position – he had betrayed Shinra once – but she decided to give him one more try since she knew he was the best. So all they needed now was the Science and Public Maintenance managers. She would put off the Space Program until she decided it necessary. Public Maintenance wasn't too hard-she selected Heidegger's secretary, Sable, to take over his job. Science had been more of a hassle, and she still didn't like the end decision. She felt that Chrezzo was too incompetent…he wasn't reserved like Hojo, but he seemed weaker. They'd have to deal with that.

She waited a few minutes in silence before there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said as she straightened herself in her chair. Heidegger walked in in his rambling gate. He had long since forgotten about their little power dispute. As long as he had a high position and was able to boss people around, he was satisfied.

"You said you wanted me for something important…?"

Scarlet smiled. A smile that Heidegger knew she was intent on doing something, and would go by all means to finish it.

"It's about those reactors in Nibelheim…" Heidegger looked at her for a second before shaking his head.

"You can't be serious. The legend of Sephiroth isn't so big as it used to be Scarlet, I don't know how-"

"Stop whining Heidegger, you're becoming weaker than that Chrezzo. Trust me, people will be willing to go and join Soldier. I want you to restart the reactor and begin recruiting as quickly as you can. Eden's only a step away when we have enough soldiers."

"What about the militia?"

"Stop asking questions and just do it! Kya ha ha!"

A grin slowly spread across Heidegger's scarred face.

"Gya ha ha, then Soldier it is!" He turned and began for the door.

"And get those Turks to the reactor to secure the area. We're not going to stand any resistance!" Scarlet screeched after him. An evil smile crept across her pale face as she sat down to her desk.

* * *

"I don't understand why you got a problem with Amos," Shelby pleaded.

He sat on the bed as Ellie paced back and forth across the bedroom. The sun cast a white glow on her face, accenting how flushed her face was. In the living room, she could hear Amos laughing at some stupid show he happened to be watching.

"I don't like his attitude."

"As far as I know Ellie, he doesn't have a problem with you, only that you seem to hate his guts."

"Well it's not my fault I hit him last night-"

"You know Ellie, I don't know you that well. I could kick you out of my apartment any time I want. So I'm telling you right now: if you can't get a grip, then it's bye-bye."

Ellie paused walking and looked out the double window. An aircraft that looked half like a helicopter, half airship, hovered above the Shinra building for a second before gaining speed and disappearing into the western sky.

"Fine. I'll just try to ignore him then."

Shelby shook his head and got up.

"By the way, do you always get wasted like that?"

Ellie grinned. She hadn't missed her college life yet.

"Almost every other night when I don't have anything in particular to do."

Shelby only rolled his eyes and stepped out of the room.

/Freak. And I bet he gets wasted every weekend. / Ellie mused as she followed him out of the room.

Ignoring a look from Amos, she sat down on the couch. The show looked like the most retarded thing she'd ever seen, and she was just about to comment on it when the screen flashed and a reporter appeared.

"What the hell…?" Amos muttered.

"Citizens of Vertigo, we interrupt this program for a brief announcement. As the former representatives of the great city of Midgar once abandoned the Soldier legacy, the President wishes to relive that organization. Anyone and everyone will be accepted. To sign up, please go to…"

The living room was silent for a second. Ellie watched in amusement. So they decided to dig the same old ditch that they had been in seven years ago. Suddenly the screen flickered and went black. The click came from Amos' direction.

"Why the hell'd you turn it off for?" She demanded as Amos rose up to his feet.

"I'm gonna join Soldier! God, it's about time they started it up again! Sucked as anything when they cancelled the entire thing after the Meteor incident."

"So you're gonna join Soldier?" Ellie questioned. /What the hell was he thinking? Wasn't Soldier bad or something…?/

"Isn't that what I just said?" She looked at him for a moment before calling out to Shelby who was in the kitchen.

"Yo Shelby, your buddy pal wants to join Soldier!" /Hehe, he's gonna be pissed as hell,/ she smiled to herself.

She heard Shelby come out of the kitchen – without his mittens on.

"Yeah Shelby, come on and join with me!" Amos cheerfully said. He seemed to have forgotten about the entire incident before with Ellie.

Shelby shook his head.

"I gotta job to do Amos, sorry man. You're a mercenary, you can do whatever you want."

"Well I guess so…wish you could come along though. Never made it far in Soldier at first 'cause of that stupid Meteor, but wait'll they hear that Amos Ding is back! Hoo-boy!"

"Dickhead, you're acting like a little kid," Ellie interrupted. She glared at Amos. "You think you're such a hotshot, when you can't do diddly squat-"

"I wouldn't say that if I were you Ellie," Shelby intervened.

"He isn't a mercenary just because he doesn't have a job."

Amos smiled triumphantly at Ellie. She looked away.

"So then," Amos exclaimed. "I take it that no one's going to join with me,"

"That's right, and you'd best believe it ass," Ellie fired back. "You're really stupid for tryin' to join. Don't you know what the Shinra did to their people?"

"Hmph, you don't even know what you're talking about," Amos replied.

Ellie puckered.

"Well, good luck Amos. Personally, I wouldn't let you go either, but hey, that's your thing." Shelby stated without emotion.

"Well, ain't gonna do any good tryin' to stop me partner, but hey, before I go, I just wanna see your spear again."

Shelby grinned, and went into his bedroom. /Spear…? What kinda guy is Shelby anyway? / Ellie thought curiously.

Amos turned toward Ellie.

"So I heard you need an ID," Amos said.

"Yeah."

"I heard you ain't from this planet."

"Yeah."

"But for some reason you've read about this place in your history books."

"Yeah."

"That's impossible. What planet are you from?"

"Earth."

"Where's that?"

"Milky Way."

"Bet you're lying."

"Nope."

Amos stared at Ellie. She returned his gaze. She heard Shelby returning from his bedroom carrying something that she saw only in fiction medieval books.

"Now /that/, is one motherfucker of a weapon," she commented.

"Can't keep your eyes off of it now can you?" Amos exclaimed. He had a similar expression on his face. Shelby grinned.

* * *

It wasn't one of those things that really bothered her, but for some reason this issue did. Her professor had told her that she would be perfect for a job like this. "I'm not ready to just give up everything I came here for," she had explained to him, but he seemed ignorant of her words. But her professor was the one person in the entire world she admired the most. She had known him from when she was a little child, and she had always wanted to grow up to be just like him. She always thought he was the wisest man in the world, and everything he said she worshipped as fact. Except this time, his advice didn't seem all too sensible. He had told her it'd be for her own good. She would like to for his sake, but then again she didn't want to sacrifice everything she had learned.

She got up from her chair and stretched. She should go home. It was already late, and she couldn't stay in the university 24-7. She switched the lights off and headed out the classroom door into the long hallway.

The light came from the city lights outside, casting the windowpane shadows that she thought so pretty. There was hardly anyone here now at this time, but she saw a figure walking towards her that she knew well.

"Maya!" The figure called out. The figure quickened his pace until he reached her.

"Maya, I wanted to tell you something, I knew you'd still be here!" He smiled at his favorite student.

She smiled back. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Oh yes. I wanted to tell you that I signed you up for Soldier early this evening. Excuse me if it's so sudden, but you really are for the position."

Maya was speechless.

"But Professor…"

"No buts Maya, I'm sure you'll do perfectly fine. I have your papers." He pulled out some papers from his coat pocket and handed them to her, patting her hand.

"Now don't be afraid of anything Maya, if you should ever need any help, you can call me anytime. Everything you need to know is in there, and they have already accepted you, so no need to worry there."

"I-I…"

"Well thank goodness you were still here-I didn't want to give you these in class next week in front of all the students. Now I have to run, I have some errands to run. Tell me how it is!"

And he walked off down the hallway. Maya continued walking but in a daze. How could Professor have just done that! She methodically pushed the down button on the elevator. /What're they going to do to me??/ she freaked.

She stepped inside the elevator and shifted through the papers in her hand. Apparently they had her on the B-2 shipment to Nibelheim. The announcement had only been this morning, but apparently, there had been hundreds of signups. Of course not everybody got in-she wondered how she could have been accepted without having to go through some kind of workout. Of course the professor knew she could work her way around that rod she kept in her house for practical defense, but she didn't think she was all that professional.

The elevator floated to a stop before its doors swished open to reveal the Shinra University lobby. It would take her a half hour to get home-enough time to mull over the past event. She glanced at the papers again. She would be leaving early tomorrow evening.

She couldn't believe it.

She shook her head as she thought of the professor. Obviously he was all for it because he had even taken it to himself to sign her up himself. There was something odd in that, but then again, he always seemed like a father figure to her... She looked at her feet as she walked towards the back exit. She knew she didn't have the guts to tell the professor no. She'd have to go along with whatever he recommended, as she always did. Maybe it was for the better, but still. There was definitely something suspicious about this, but she couldn't sense it. She had always been intellectually smart, but always needed someone to make her opinions. She hated it. Always being insecure and depending on other people. She wanted to be able to make her own choices, but it never seemed right. Her choices were either the wrong ones or everything just backfired.

She felt like a puppet.

The back door slid open and a rush of air gusted into her face, throwing her brunette hair into a million strands behind her. She stepped out into the cold, crisp air and the door swished shut behind her.

Already, she could smell the mako exhaust from everything that surrounded this city. Not that she minded. She loved the city, and most everything in it. Shinra paid for her residence, which was in one of the two high-class residential areas in the entire city. She was one of the fortunate citizens, one who many younger people envied. Not that she cared, that was their concern, not hers.

She slowly made her way down the street. Few were out except for maybe some people on business dinners or the like. She walked past the alley where she had found the unconscious girl a few days ago.

For some reason it still lingered in her mind. She knew she'd been vicious to her, but it was common knowledge that she couldn't hitch a ride on the train without an ID.

Shinra's principles, and how could she have not even had an ID? It seemed ridiculous, where the heck was she from anyway?

She stepped up to the boarding rail and as usual, the train was right on time. She glanced at her papers again before embarking the train.


	4. A Plan

"You're weak man, real weak," Ellie scolded.

They sat on the sofa as another Soldier recruitment advertisement ran on the screen.

He shook his head.

"But you know I can't just tell him no, I'm pretty much the only friend he's got."

She was silent.

"Well let's put it this way. You don't like Shinra, for obvious reasons that Amos can't see. The least you could've done was told him about it."

"Telling him wouldn't have done jack."

She sat in silence before getting up and walking to her spot behind the glass doors. She could see the early shift of Soldier-wannabe's boarding an aircraft up in the Shinra headquarters' airstrip. They looked like miniscule black ants compared to the massive size of everything up there. Shelby's apartment had the perfect view for spying on the Shinra, at least from one perspective. As Shelby had pointed out to her in the past, the main control center for the mako reactors resided up there, and so did the upper level of Shinra's University. It was a certainly impressive metropolis, but every executive that existed up there was as corrupt as anything. What the hell could she do about it.

She turned back to Shelby who sat in silence.

"Well you can't just let him go and get screwed up,"

"Well he's done it before Ellie, he's gone into Soldier before when he was younger…he must've been about fourteen I'd say."

"For real? They'd actually do that? Where's he from anyway?"

"Kalm. And yes, they would actually do something like that, it's messed up."

"Hmm…" She returned to her seat aside Shelby.

Ever since Amos had left early this morning, Shelby had been quiet. He didn't have work today for some odd reason. Probably took the day off.

"So you're just gonna sit there and pout…?" Ellie questioned, still facing the screen.

"What can I do? It's not as if I can go up to Scarlet's door and tell her to stop,"

"You could try."

Shelby laughed. "In your dreams miss, Shinra ain't so pleasant when it comes to dealing with their citizens. Especially Scarlet. She don't give a crap about no one."

"You hate her don't you."

"Hell yeah!"

Ellie grinned. "Well I say we get Amos back before he does something real stupid," she said as she looked at Shelby.

He shrugged.

"I know!" Ellie exclaimed. "We could go to sign up for Soldier and hey, we still have enough time! We'll probably get to be on the same flight as Amos and stop him on the way. We'll find our way back," she jumped up.

A great idea always made her do that.

"Sounds easy don't it? Well it's not," Shelby interjected.

"Only because you haven't tried." She looked at him glaringly. Now she had a good idea and he'd better damn well follow it. Shelby shook his head.

"Well…I dunno."

"Now come on Shelby, don't be a loser. And hey, give me some credit here, you know I don't really like that guy, but even /I'm/ not gonna let him get infected by that Shinra disease."

"…he already is." Ellie looked at Shelby for a moment before turning away. She glanced out the window vaguely and noticed the airship's light flashing. There were ready for takeoff.

"Well look at all those people in there," she exclaimed, pointing out the window to the airship. "They're all gonna turn into mindless –"

"They're not completely mindless, Ellie. Being showered with mako is just abnormal and just wasn't made to be. They're getting sprinkled with the souls that have died in the past. And as far as I know, Amos doesn't give a crap about that stuff. He just wants to become great and powerful like Sephiroth."

"Well then why doesn't he use like steroids or something? That'll make him strong."

"…what are steroids?" Ellie paused as she gave Shelby a funny look.

"Um...nevermind."

She looked on as the airship finally took off and started floating lazily towards the western sky. Shelby looked on as well. He was silent.

"Dammit!"

He suddenly exclaimed and got up, clicking the television off. Ellie looked up in surprise.

/Talk about spontaneity, look at this kid!.../ "What's up?"

"I'm gonna get Amos and bring him back here, even if it means draggin' him back kickin' and screamin'!" He marched into his bedroom, leaving Ellie in wonder.

* * *

They sat near the cliff, the reactor behind them. The three barely knew each other. Even then, they sat in silence, preferring to shut their mouths and listen for any threatening sounds to test their skills. The horizon was nothing of a sight. The twisted mountainscape and the rocky soil didn't appease much, but of course nothing could get in the way of their job. The setting sun cast long and dark shadows that could be hiding anything. Ever since the Meteor incident, many of the smaller creatures disappeared, but in some areas, such as the Nibelheim Mountains, strange and more vicious creatures multiplied, leaving the residents in fear every night. That didn't help their consciences much. They were told to stay put in front of the reactor and make sure nothing went in or came out of the thing. "Sure thing," their assumed leader had told Heidegger. The other two had later yelled at him, but like they really had a choice. So they had been sent in a day ago, and tonight was their last night. Freedom came after that, supposedly.

One of them sighed and threw down a rock into the cavern below, and it was only after a few seconds later the three heard the tumbling rock. She shrugged and got up and stretched. The other two remained staring into the setting sun.

"So you two are just gonna sit there?" She exclaimed, waiting a moment before a reply.

"Shut up Kirin, nobody wants to listen to you."

"Well /excuse/ me Nik, but we're a team here. We can't just ditch on each other."

She stomped her foot and walked a few steps away.

She hated that guy. Usually Helix, the other, would intervene, but this time he was silent. No surprise, everyone had always told her she was a stuck-up and that no one liked her. They were mistaken. She may not have known her parents since she grew up in an orphanage, but what the hell did that have an effect on anything? It wasn't her fault, and she certainly wasn't as insecure as Nik.

"You know Nik, no one gives two shits about /your/ opinion." She looked at them, waiting for a reply. She waited longer, but there wasn't a reply.

"Fine," Kirin exclaimed. /I'm not gonna screw around with those bastards,/ she figured.

The reactor stood in silence in front of her. She walked towards it and stopped within a few feet of the stairs leading up to it. /What a dump,/ she thought. /Why the hell'd Shinra want us to watch this joint in the first place?/ They'd been forbidden to go inside however, which made her the more curious.

She was just about to turn around and ask the two guys sitting on the cliff why, but then stopped midway. Let them sit there bored out of their mind, she certainly wasn't about to join them – they probably didn't know why either.

She turned back around and faced the reactor. Forbidden or not, she'd have to see what was in there.

The steps seemed sturdy enough, but the main door had been torn off to the side. She peered inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The Lifestream underneath her feet boiled silently, but she could hear the faint sound of machinery deeper inside. Everything was motionless, but something didn't seem right. /Maybe this isn't such a great idea, / she thought as she took a step inside. She took a quick glance back at Nik and Helix – they didn't notice at all.

She climbed down the ladder inside onto the railway as quietly as she could. It felt like something was watching her, like if she made a sound some horrible monster would jump out at her. No fear, she always told herself, and she took a step forward.

Everything stayed in its place, and she took another step.

The entry door in front of her was gone, and she could see a glow coming from that room ahead.

Running lightly to the doorway and standing aside, Kirin peered in.

Some kind of pods were laid open near the staircase leading up to a sealed doorway. Each one was emitting a cold glow from inside.

The whir of machinery was louder in here - obviously it was coming from the adjacent room behind the sealed doorway. But the pods…they seemed out of place.

She peered around the room before sneaking up to the nearest one. The glow was definitely cold, she could feel it when she got nearer to it.

/Thank god for these suits,/ she mused as she tugged her jacket closed.

Just as she was about to peer in over the side, she heard a noise behind her.

She swerved back, holding her fists up in defense.

It was dark. No gleaming beady eyes in the darkness, no rustling…what the hell was that anyway?

She looked around a second more before turning her head back to the pod.

Then she heard it again.

"Who's there?!" she squealed out, jumping up to her feet.

It sounded closer.

Her voice embarrassingly came out high-pitched like a little girl.

She hated that.

It looked exactly the same as it did a few seconds before. Moving her head slightly she looked around her. Nothing out of the ordinary. But what was the ordinary anyway?

Then she saw it. A pair of flaming red eyes in the far corner in the shadows.

She stumbled back, expelling a horrific shriek.

She clapped her hand over her mouth.

She was great for first impressions.

Suddenly it was very cold, and her teeth began chattering. The glowing embers disappeared. Now she was very afraid. Not only did it seem like the arctic in here, those creepy eyes were gone.

Maybe it was just an illusion…

"Guysss!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

A cold gust rushed by her, and she stayed frozen to her spot, afraid to move.

She heard Nik and Helix shouting above her.

/Can't they move their asses fast enough? I'm gonna die down here!!/ she screamed to herself.

The pods seemed to glow brighter and she intently looked around her.

There it was again, on top of the steps in front of the sealed doorway, except along with the crimson eyes flowed a dark figure.

She fell back onto her hands. Its presence seemed to stifle the entire chamber.

She heard the clatter of chains as her teammates made their way down into the reactor.

/It's about time,/ she thought as she pulled herself back. The figure raised his arms towards the ceiling in silence. It seemed too unreal, too fake.

"Kirin!"

She turned her head and saw Nik running towards her with Helix close behind.

"Guys! Look!" She yelled, pointing to the sealed door.

"?"

She twirled back and looked at the door. There was nothing. Only the whir of machinery.

She turned her head back to Nik and Helix.

They returned a confused look.

"So you send us down here just because you thought you saw something?"

Kirin was speechless.

"You-you-but I-!"

Nik rolled his eyes.

"Come on Kirin, we're not even allowed down here for god knows why – and what the hell were you doing down here in the first place?"

"Hey, check these out," Helix said quietly, bent over one of the pods.

Nik walked over and bent down next to Helix.

Kirin pouted, pulling herself up and dusting herself off.

It wasn't cold anymore, but she knew it wasn't an illusion. She was sure of it. It didn't seem quite so intimidating down here anymore with other people around…or maybe it was just because that monster/person was gone.

She looked around the room before making her way to Nik and Helix.

"What is this shit…?" Nik muttered.

There was some kind of clear ooze resting on the bottom of the pod, mixed with what looked like blood.

"Doesn't look too pretty to me," Helix said.

He apprehensively stuck his finger inside and lightly touched the ooze. It contracted, like it was alive, then stopped. The three looked uneasy. Kirin noticed she could see her reflection in it, but couldn't see the other two. Something wasn't right here. The pod was shaped like an outline of a man, and seemed it could fit the biggest person alive.

"Some kind of tests or something must've gone around in here somewhere," Helix concluded, still crouched over the pod.

"Explains the blood," Nik replied.

Suddenly a plank crashed to the ground, making a rasping metallic sound on the floor as all three jumped up to their feet.

"Uh, l-let's get outta here," Nik exclaimed, kicking his feet up and making a dash towards the open doorway with the two close behind.


	5. The Ride

All the way on the other side of the planet, Shelby and Ellie stood in line for the second and last departure of the day for Soldier recruits. Five people ahead of them stood Maya. Many of the people lined up here were young men, probably jobless and dropouts from school. To Ellie, they seemed like all of her friends she had left back in high school who all ended up going to the community college because they had nothing better to do with their lives.

/High school…that reminds me,/ Ellie dug into her pockets.

"What're you lookin' for?" Shelby questioned, looking at Ellie strangely.

"Something I remembered…"

Shelby looked at her.

"Ah, here it is," Ellie exclaimed as she pulled out a small clear plastic bag.

A white chalky material was packed inside of it to the rim.

"And what is that?" Shelby questioned. Ellie waved the bag around.

"You've never seen this before?"

"…no…what is it?"

"Ever hear of coke?"

"…what?"

"Holy cripes, what the hell do you guys do for fun?" Ellie began laughing as she exclaimed "You can't be serious!"

Shelby looked at her in that confused way as he always did.

Ellie shook her head and put the packet back.

"I'll show you later," she smiled. Shelby shrugged. He had no reason to believe she wasn't from another world; everything she did was kind of strange.

"So have you thought about how to get us outta this mess?" Shelby whispered.

Ellie looked up. "Not quite. I know how to get Amos back but I dunno how to get back here."

"What?!"

"Hey, you're in on this plan! That's why you're here you dope!"

"But this was your plan!"

"Plan, shmlan, this is /your/ friend, not mine!"

Shelby gave her a look and turned away.

"That's right, you'd better damn well come up with something!" Ellie griped. /He expects me to do everything? Who the hell does he think I am, a genius? Speaking of genius…how the hell am I supposed to get back to Earth…?/ She thought for a moment, then shrugged. /Well can't think about it now…gotta save this bastard first./

She looked around, but didn't see Amos anywhere.

She shoved Shelby in the side and whispered, "Hey, you know any of these people around here?"

Shelby looked around for a moment before shaking his head. She tapped her foot.

"Well damn, Shinra likes takin' their time," she muttered, craning her neck to see the front of the line.

A dark red uniform stood in front of a machine with a card in his hand while a wannabe soldier waited impatiently aside him.

"What're they doing up there?"

"Checkin' ID's."

Ellie took out her ID from her pocket that Shelby had given to her this afternoon. There wasn't any picture proof on the thing, but according to the card, she was Rita Shafer, age 22, born in former Midgar.

"So I gotta go by this name," Ellie questioned, pushing the card up to Shelby's face.

"…yeah, duh," he answered.

"Well c'mon, I've never screwed around with these things," Ellie countered.

Her high school friends had always been messing around with those kinds of things, but she never took part of it…some kind of goody-goody. She didn't care.

"That guy up there probably doesn't have a clean record or something," Shelby stated.

She looked up, and yes, the same guy was still there.

"Well come on, we don't have all day!" Then on a lower note, "and by the way, do you see Amos anywhere?"

"No…maybe he already got in before we got here,"

Ellie agreed, and sighed. Finally, the line moved up, and after about ten minutes they were finally up.

* * *

She found her seat and brushed it off before sitting down on it. God knows who sat in it before. They had said no luggage, so she had uncomfortably brought only her purse with her, inexperienced in the whole ordeal of going somewhere on short notice.

She still didn't want to be here.

/My future's in business and law, not being in some kind of army! It's all too weird…I still don't get why the professor signed me up, I mean he knows I don't do those kind of things!/

She crouched over and thought long and hard.

She loved the professor, as she already realized since she was sitting right here. She glanced at her watch. It was the kind that a lot of people in Vertigo wanted to have, but for 400 gil, most could not afford it. The professor had bought it for her. Shinra did everything for her it seemed like, but even though she sometimes felt like an automaton, there was something fishy about the entire thing. Although she'd never talked to any of the executives in the building upstairs, everyone had heard them talking one time or another. And most people were ignorant or too stupid to realize, but Maya knew these guys weren't the cleanest group around. Such as Soldier. She remembered when she was a young kid growing up in the former Midgar with her mother in the slums. She knew what the Shinra was like. She was too young to remember Avalanche or anyone of the like, but she did remember the explosions and the missing relatives. Something in her mind had always told her it was Shinra, not some group of people intent on hurting the people of Midgar. And Soldier had been something that her mother had told her was the cause of Meteor. If it weren't for Soldier and the people in it, Meteor and the destruction of Midgar could have been prevented. But what did her mother know? Whenever she asked the professor though, he always avoided the topic somehow. She hadn't bothered to ask anyone else really, and her peers didn't know much either.

Maya sighed and looked out the window.

The line had dissipated, and only a few people were left standing next to the plane. Apparently they were almost ready for lift off. Maya looked out towards the city from the small window. She could see her apartment in Sector IV.

/Am I ever gonna see that place again?/

The papers she had received from the professor hadn't said too much, only the regulations and every other legal thing that it involved. She qualified for each and every one, which was kind of strange. Had the professor known about this all along? She shook her head. It was all too confusing.

* * *

"You see him anywhere?" Ellie exclaimed as she and Shelby walked through the aisles in the airplane. He shook his head.

"You can keep looking for now," he said. "I'll go find a seat."

Ellie nodded.

She casually walked towards the back of the airship. It looked like a cargo jet, and where the hell were the flight attendants? All they had here were those red uniforms! Trying not to make it look obvious, she cast glances all around trying to find anyone who looked like Amos.

/Where the hell is he?!/ Ellie screamed to herself. Now she was getting pissed. /I wonder if he even made it…/

She walked back and almost tripped as the airship came alive, lurching forward.

/Release the break /after/ you start the engine, not before dammit!/ She yelled at the pilot. /What kinda morons run this place anyway?/

All of a sudden one of the red guards appeared right in front of her as Ellie was getting her step.

"Please, find a seat and remain there," Ellie looked up crossly.

"I'm getting to my seat dufus, don't get up in my face like that!"

She pushed her way aside and made her way to where Shelby sat before the floor began shuddering and the airship began moving.

"This thing looks like a cargo plane," Ellie commented as she made herself comfortably. This thing wasn't probably half as safe as a nineteenth century train back in America.

"I think it is," Shelby replied.

"Oh well that's nice. And I take it we're the cargo being sent to what's-that-place."

"Nibelheim."

"Right."

The airship quivered, and suddenly rushed upwards, pushing everyone against their seats. Ellie grasped her hand rests as tight as she could and made a face. Finally, the airship leveled and everyone exhaled. What a ride.

Ellie sighed and turned to Shelby.

"You know, I don't think he's here," she said quietly, glancing around inside the passenger hold.

Shelby shook his head.

"He must've been on the early transport. Dunno if the Shinra remembered him, but he must've gotten in pretty quick."

Ellie shook her head and settled in her seat. Tragedy of the latecomer, Shelby had taken the window seat, so she was stuck with half her body in the aisle. Two red uniforms were standing at the front of the room side by side with their backs on the Soldier wannabes.

Ellie looked to her left, and to her surprise, another girl sat alone. Her head was in her hands, as if she were distressed. Ellie looked at her in reproach and leaned over.

"Hey, you look like you don't want to be here," she exclaimed.

The girl looked up at her and was silent.

"You gonna say something or are you just gonna sit there with your…nevermind," Ellie said. /Too rough, this girl looks devastated./

"…You," the girl began. "You're the girl I found on the street…!"

Ellie looked at her for a moment, certain feelings rushing back…she pulled something out of her pocket. "Well see, now I've got ID, so bite it miss," and sat back into her seat.

She saw the girl lean forward into her seat to see who she was with, and Ellie turned her gaze.

She wasn't about to mess around with this person who she personally didn't like. Bad impression was all.

* * *

Maya sat back in her seat. /Well, that's someone with attitude,/ she concluded, giving her a side look. The ID had said she was Rita, but for reason when she looked at who she was with, she could presume it was a fake. /Bums,/ she thought as she looked around at who else was here. They were mostly street rats, but…

"Tanya!"

A small blonde-haired girl turned her head and looked towards the voice. "Maya! Hey what are you doing here??" She jumped up out of her seat and took the seat next to Maya, avoiding peoples' stares.

"How'd you get yourself here, I didn't know you wanted to be in Soldier!"

"Actually, the Professor signed me up."

"Professor Tommy?"

"Yes. And I thought you wanted to become a doctor…?"

"Oh yeah. Well, Professor Chrezzo signed me up too. Isn't this weird?"

"Hm…wow, the Head of the Science Dep in Shinra signed you up for this? Yes that is weird…"

"And he didn't even ask for my permission, he just gave me the papers!"

"Same here…"

"Yeah something screwy's going on even though I'm not going to say anything, but," she lowered her voice. "All the top students in Vertigo were all pre-signed up for this thing. I just heard this from one of the guards up there talking."

Maya looked at her curiously. Now that was weird.

"Well!" Tanya sat back and smiled. "I have to get back to my seat because I'm working on this project for school. Bye!" She lightly got up and pranced back to her seat.

Maya wanted to tell her that she wouldn't have time to work on her project after they arrived at Nibelheim. Something told her, especially after Tanya told her about the Shinra's plan, that something was definitely wrong.


	6. the KO

"All was calm, sir!" Nik exclaimed respectfully as Heidegger paced back in forth in front of them. Kirin kept her gaze straight ahead, hoping to all hell that Heidegger wouldn't ask her about how it went.

Luckily for them, Heidegger wasn't in one of his horrible mood swings and he skipped over the past.

"You are now to report to Nibelheim and guard the entrance and exit to make sure none of the recruits for Soldier escape."

"Shouldn't the militia-"

"I don't care how you do it Helix, just do it!"

Helix backed off and stared off into space.

Heidegger hmphed and started walking back towards the town. The three could see the first shipment of recruits arriving in an aircraft in front of the small rural town.

"This place is shit," Nik interjected as he began back to the town. "You two can stay at the exit 'cause you guys can kick more ass than those freakin' militia dudes, but I'll send over a couple anyway."

Kirin rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Well thanks a lot!" and turned around and began walking towards the exit hidden in the Nibelheim mountains. Helix shrugged and followed her.

Nik couldn't stand that bitch and he'd do anything to stay away from her. Personally, he believed that females should never fight and be submissive 24/7. And most bitches didn't believe so, which made them even bigger bitches. Such as Kirin. He believed they should've contacted some former member of Soldier instead of this girl. He shook his head as he made his way down the winding path towards the village.

After a few minutes, his quick pace carried him to the entrance to the mountains, and he stood aside watching a line of wannabe Soldiers entering the small town. /The hell are they all gonna stay?/ he mused. /These people are enough to scare away all the monsters around here for now…nah./ He picked himself back up and started for the towns entrance and made his way towards Heidegger.

"Look at all these rats," Heidegger mused with his hand scratching his face. Nik only looked at him, then back at the ragged people from Neo-Midgar. He recognized a face from a bar he usually went to when he was over there, but most of these people all looked the same. The line began to thin and Nik turned to find the militia guys to reinforce the bums back at the exit.

Behind him, the plane slowly lifted itself back up and shifted its direction back towards the metropolis to bring in more recruits. Nik refused to cover his ears as the turbines vibrated and squealed. He could see in the far distance past the mountains surrounding North Coral another carrier airship coming in.

He finished his commands, making sure to assign some bastards to the entrance and then began for the Shinra mansion. Of course the big guys from Shinra were in there, but none of them he really knew except for Heidegger. Not that he really gave a damn, his "respect" for Heidegger was all a fake, and Nik could really give two shits about any kind of authority.

From outside, the Shinra Mansion looked dead, but when he opened the creaky door, inside was a bustle. They had actually fixed up the place pretty nice from the last time Nik had come in here. Two guards stood above blocking the entrance to the stairwell to the basement. As far as procedures went, no living being was allowed to go in there anymore. Nik didn't ask questions either.

He went to the room to his right to report his daily accomplishments just like he did every damn day. At least he got paid to do this shit.

He nodded to the secretary as he made his way back out into the sunshine. Former residents of Neo-Midgar mingled around in the streets now. There was nothing to do in these little towns, and the bar in Nibelheim wasn't even worth looking in the window.

Nevertheless, Nik found himself following himself inside. He saw a few people making small talk with the bartender. In his mind, she was crazy. Everyone here was crazy. And to make things even more unpleasant, he'd found some dead stinky dusty black hooded thing lying in the back behind the furnace. Lovely. The hell was up with this place.

His designated spot at the corner of the bar was taken. He didn't feel like a push-and-shove incident right now so he just compromised grudgingly and took a seat in the middle. Automatically a beer appeared in his hands and he looked up. The bartender smiled at him. Nik grinned from the corner of his mouth. Country girls automatically turned him off. Whatever.

"Well if it isn't Nikolis Cramer."

Nik turned around and looked at the person who had the nerve to repeat his name. His face looked so familiar…

"…Ding? Good god it is you. The fuck are you doing here you asshole," he exclaimed as they slapped hands. They used to be good buddy's about five years ago.

"Shit man, at least someone remembers me. The damn Shinra erased my files-"

"That's why you should've stuck with it like me instead of wussin' out."

"Phshh," Amos shook his head and took his beer in his hands.

"So what you been up to?"

"Just chillin' in Midgar here and there…I'm a mercenary you know."

"Why the hell are you joining Soldier again? Mercenaries make good money."

"Dunno. So…you're lookin' like a Turk now…?"

"Yeah, the pay's good and you get discounts in every bar. It's the life. You shoulda stayed with me man, you're stupid."

"Thanks."

Nik looked at him smugly, then suddenly recalled that Heidegger wanted to see his ass at the entrance. "Shit man, I gotta bounce. Yo save me a beer," and he got up and disappeared. Amos shrugged.

* * *

"So what the hell do they do to you here??" Ellie asked as she followed the line out the same door they came in.

"Well as far as I know, they just stick you in some machine and you get sprinkled with mako overnight, then voila! You're ready for training for Soldier."

"Sounds like fun…" Ellie trailed off as she stepped off the stairs. A small picturesque town lay ahead of them. /lordy it really /is/ Nibelheim! Damn…/ she stared at the gloomy-looking town lying in the crevice of a misshaped mountains cape. It was like stepping into a storybook…but not being able to wake up. /As long as I can stay away from school for a couple days…but Derek…/ Suddenly a dark cloud hovered over Ellie.

"What's a matter?" Shelby noticed.

Ellie shook her head. "Oh don't worry about me."

They followed the procession towards the small gate leading into the town. Already, there were people loitering around the outskirts, most of them were young and sitting in their little cliques, smoking, laughing, but subtly nervous.

"Well I can't keep company with unstable partners," Shelby stated.

"I just miss my boyfriend, that's all. I guess I'm getting a little homesick."

"What's that place you come from? America? Is it like here?"

"Barely. We don't have any of these mako stuff. And I'd say we're a little more advanced in some things than you are. We don't got monsters everywhere either."

Shelby shrugged. They were quickly approaching the town. Ellie could see the red guards everywhere.

"Alright," Shelby stated, "when we get in there, I'll check the outside of the place. You can look around the houses inside."

"Sure thing, Sparky." They both separated, and Ellie meandered into town. She couldn't help but notice a black-suited mofo staring at her gait. She decided not to give a nasty remark, since they were getting the hell out of the place as soon as they found Amos. She decided she'd just go methodically, and she turned to the first building to her left.

"Looking for someone?" The lady behind the counter exclaimed. "We only house the important people here."

"Thanks, I'm just um…enjoying the scenery,"

"Upstairs window."

"Sure," Ellie made her way upstairs. Everything was deathly quiet as opposed to the hubbub outside. She looked out the window in the hall with her hands. /So this is what Sephy was looking at.../ After her mind quieted down, she heard muffled crying. She turned, and through the open doorway, she saw a humped over figure on a bed.

/Hey…that's the same chic on the plane…/ she went up to her.

"The hell is wrong wit you?"

The girl stopped, then looked up. Her blue eyes were swollen red. Then she started sobbing again. "I just don't want to be here…"

"So leave."

"I can't…I could never show my face if I did."

"Well get over it."

"But Vertigo…"

"To hell with Vertigo."

"But…"

Ellie stood in front of her with her hands on her hips. After a moment, the girl continued.

"But I can't go back—you…you don't understand," she cried desperately.

Ellie looked and shrugged helplessly.

"Why the hell did you come here anyway??"

"My professor…he signed me up for it, and so did a lot of other professors."

"…Shinra…" Ellie muttered. Now she started to feel bad for this chic. It wasn't her fault she was here, and the Shinra were only trying to brainwash all these smart young people with potential. /Mother F'ers./

"Well," she sat down on the bed facing her. "I'm here to find someone and take him away from here so he won't get more brainwashed than he already is. Wanna come with me?"

"Humm…" The girl looked up at her through her laced fingers around her face. "Let me think about it…"

"Well your shipment ain't goin' today, and we're probably gonna jet tonight, so if you want to do the right thing, meet me next to that old green pickup near the entrance, aight?" She got up to her feet and stretched. She didn't realize how tired she was until she had sat down on the downy wool bed.

She waited but there wasn't a response.

"Well make up your mind. What's your name by the way?"

"…Maya Neofledger."

"Cool," and she started towards the door. As she stepped onto the hearth, she heard a frantic "wait!" She stopped and turned her head slightly.

"Yeah…?"

There was a pause, and she saw Maya's head turned back towards the floor. "…Never mind."

Ellie sighed, and began for the stairs. She made her way outside. It was exactly as how she had left it. That black-suited dude wasn't there anymore though. Whatever. She turned to her left. It sort of looked like a pub or something. She headed towards it and opened the door with its orange translucent stained glass window. Inside was all foggy with the shit they called cigarettes…or doobies…she didn't feel high though, so they probably weren't doobies. She stepped aside to stand aside the door and scope the crowd. No dark-haired fruit around anywhere… She checked her watch. It said it was nine PM. She looked out the curtained window, and the sun was just past high noon. /Well lessee…we have till dark tonight…fuck that/ She headed to the only open barstool. "Beer," she mumbled and pulled out some papers from her jacket pocket. They were some employment papers she had picked up from whichever sector they were in. Sector four she thinks it was… She turned to her neighbor, some dude who seemed to have forgotten to shave for about two days…nasty. She nudged him in the arm.

"Hey, you wouldn't have happened to have seen some big dude with dark-colored hair wouldya?" She asked boldly. He turned his head in slow motion.

"…eh…?"

Ellie rolled her eyes and turned to her left. "You seen any buff dude with dark-colored hair?" This time it was some hairless dude.

"What's his name?"

"Amos."

"Yeah. Why are you looking for him?"

"I um…need to talk to him. Like, right now." She nodded as her beer appeared before her.

He looked at her with his stone cold gray eyes for a minute. She blew it off and patiently took a sip of her beer and went back to staring at him, waiting for an answer. "Well??"

He pointed with a nod of his alien head to the back of the room. She twisted her head and saw a door blended into the background.

"Ah-h, I see. Thank you." She drained the rest of her beer and got up, the baldy staring at her the entire time. Before she started, she looked back at him and waved gleefully, all the while, laughing to herself. She strode over to the back and wondered if it was alright for her to just barge in. She turned the knob and peeped in. Inside that room, it was cloudier, except it was all settled up at the ceiling so you couldn't even see the beams covering the room. Lack of circulation. Seated around two round tables were rowdy-looking groups of people tossing cards, dice, and beads on the table. /Well hey now, there's the fag/ she spotted the unique-looking fruit sitting at the second table facing her. But he was too busy slapping his cards down on the table to notice her throwing him looks. She took five big steps and stood right behind him to his left. A few of the gruff men at the table looked up at her without moving their skulls.

"Yo Amos, we need to talk."

He paused for a moment, then looked up.

"You again."

"Yes, me again. Git your ass up and outta here." She gripped his arm in a vice grip.

"Dammit bitch, leggo of me."

"Leggo my Eggo©," she mimicked. "Yeah whatever man. We gotta talk."

She eased her grip as he slammed his deck onto the table and put his hands on his knees. He got up to his knees and turned towards her.

She didn't see that arm swing around.

And she was too late when he gripped her leg and arm and picked her up and threw her across the room.

She hit the opposite wall with her back, and her breath collapsed out of her lungs. She hit the floor with a deadened thump.

You could hear the black dude suck on his cigarette. The paper and dry leaf singed and tinkled. He flicked the cigarette butt. You could hear the ashes fall on the table. Then someone shuffled in their chair and someone put a card down. The mumbled voices started again.

Ellie couldn't even moan as she absentmindedly stared into the dusty black cloth in front of her face. Everything just faded white, like a movie when the last scene finishes in a grand finale.


	7. The Escape

It was all musty and gross, and she shriveled up her nose in distaste. She slowly opened her eyes. It looked like she was in some garbage dump. It was already dark outside. A huge wall rose up beside her. Farther down, there was a door. Suddenly it all clicked, and Ellie jumped up, grabbing the cloth around herself. The air was surprisingly chilly, and it was a clear night, too. She sprinted and jumped over obstacles till she made it to the ray of light appearing from the alley. There were a few people slumped over with little knapsacks on their laps on both sides, and she tiptoed around them and made her way to the square.

Apparently they had thrown her out of the bar, which stood right beside her. The light inside were glowing like crazy, and even from here, she could hear the clanking glass and Harley Davidson laughter. She glanced up and her heart skipped a beat when she realized the moon was almost in the middle of the sky. /Oh schniiikeees…/ she scolded herself. Suddenly she heard the door to the bar open, and two executive-like characters walked out. /That tall dude looks like the dawg that was givin' me looks this mornin'…/ her ears perked up.

"Well the first shipment should be completed as of now—" the man glanced at his wrist.

"Helix and Kirin are positioned at the exit, so I wouldn't worry about that right now."

"The trainee's should be arriving in about thirty minutes. They will need time to recuperate, so for now, they will be kept in a temporary barracks in the mountains until the first shipment aircraft arrives at seven this morning. Understood?"

"Yes…sir." The taller one in the ruffled suit pulled out a cigarette from his coat pocket and the other man offered a light. "The second shipment will be completed in four thirty hours from seven, right?"

"Correct."

"Right…so for now we'll just sit back—"

"You will be required to guard the entrance and surrounding area."

"What about them red guards, can't they—"

"Hey, bring it to Heidegger, it ain't my problem."

"I think I will!"

"What about the entrance…?"

"To hell with the entrance."

They both turned on their heel and headed toward the Shinra mansion, now illuminated with blue and gold spotlights.

Ellie swiftly shifted her vision to the old pickup at the entrance. /It's now or never…that dude is coming back, and if he sees us…/ she scrambled up to her feet and raced to the gate.

No one was there.

"Shelby…? Shelby?" She whispered. She heard a knock from the opposite side of the pickup and she ran to the other side.

"Where the hell have you been??" Shelby hissed. There was no Amos.

"Dude, I couldn't get him in time! You didn't catch'm?"

"No thanks to you—"

"How the hell did you get'm??"

"A little threat—"

"Dude, he kicked my ass."

Shelby stared peculiarly at the hood she was wearing. "It's mad cold yo." Then she remembered. "How long've you been here?"

"About a couple of hours,"

"Has some red-haired chic showed her face around here?"

"Haven't seen anyone."

"Hmph…" She didn't know if she should feel bad or not. So far, her thoughts of Maya were bittersweet.

"Follow me," Shelby got up and crept low. He jetted across the open space to the well, then quickly made it up the stairs to the narrowing canyon that led to the mountains. Ellie followed his footsteps, and just as she reached the steps, she spied a beam of yellow light split the darkness, coming from the direction of the Shinra mansion. She hesitantly stopped midway and looked up, her hands and knees on the steps in a crouched position. Her lousy reflexes took over and she swiftly switched herself around and put her ass on the step.

She could hear the iron gate swing open and the light footsteps of an elegant shoe descend to her. Abruptly, they stopped a step above her. She looked away from the footsteps, her gaze penetrating the pebbles and dirt on the stair.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing here?"

/Should I tell'm I'm here to beat the crap out of him or…/

"I live here."

There was a pause. "Oh really." He stepped forward and sat down next to her. She glanced behind her other shoulder to the canyon entrance. She could see Shelby waving for her to get the hell out of the place. She pouted and made a slight nod of her head. Without waiting for a response, she turned her head back so the dude wouldn't notice anything.

"And what is your name?"

"Tori." Well it /was/ sort of the truth…that was her middle name.

"Tori…I don't recall seeing a 'Tori' in the Nibelheim files."

"You didn't look hard enough." She kept her gaze straightforward. She could hear him crack a smirk.

"It's really not a good idea to mess around with me. No one lives in this stupid little town anymore Tori, and if I were you, I would go back to your little hotel where you came from and not show your pretty little face around here for a while."

She finally turned her head and looked at him with squinted eyes. /Well now…he's kinda fine…looks about twenty-three or so…/ "You don't know who you're messing with, buddy."

He smiled smugly and looked off in the distance.

"I'm staying in that house back there…just ask for N. Kramer." He got up to his feet. /Wow, he's a really big jackass,/ Ellie mused.

"By the way, beautiful hood you got there."

She looked up at him, and was returned with a wink before he started for the entrance. She waited till he was walking beside the well. She rushed up to her feet and dashed to the cover of the canyon's shadow and looked back. He didn't once turn back his head…as far as she knew.

She searched for Shelby and saw him hiding behind a disfigured boulder. A blue path led straight up into the mountains. In the horizon to her left near a massive hanging bridge, she could see something like a trail of smoke slithering slowly into the sky. /That must be the barracks or whatever,/ she sprinted to Shelby.

"That's where they're keeping the new people," she pointed out. "Where's Amos?"

He shook his head, and she joined him with her back to the boulder.

There he was. His massive body was slouched on the ground, arms holding knees. He could pass himself off as a boxer if he wanted to. She had no idea how she had beat the crap out of him the first day she met him. Discreetly, he raised his head and stared at her. She stared back, his fiery eyes seeming to burn a hole in her own calm eyes. /Damn…somebody's pissed,/ she couldn't look at him any longer.

"Alright, let's go," she picked herself up. Shelby grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.

"We're not going anywhere without Amos," he seethed, his gaze fixed on him.

She was almost afraid to look at him, but she did anyway. Without a thought, she crawled towards him and placed herself about three feet away from his face.

"And the hell is /your/ problem?"

"You're stupid."

"I know, but that's not the issue here. We're taking you back to Neo-Midgar—oh excuse me, Vertigo—and you don't have a say in that. Period." She grinned at the thought that she could see him sideswiping her face. But he didn't. He just sat there like a big dumb guerilla.

"And you're just going to sit there?" She demanded. She exhaled a short impatient breath. "I don't care what your dreams are," she reached for his hand, "but we're not going to let you hurt yourself." She grasped his hand and pulled him up to his feet. /He ain't resisting…that could be good or bad…mostly bad…/ She looked back at Shelby. He had gotten to his feet and he turned around and started for the Nibelheim Mountains' exit.

She started to follow, then sensed Amos was still standing in his spot like a statue.

"Ugh, just come on," she muttered gruffly, taking his hand and hauling him beside her.

* * *

"It's your shift," Helix stated in a monotone voice, grabbing her shoulder and giving it a shake.

Kirin moaned and turned her head over.

"But the sun's barely up…" She decided she'd do him a favor, since he was the only nice person to her. She sighed and sat up, handing over the itchy blanket. She moved aside and crawled over to their baggage located near the lookout. Grabbing a water bottle, she splashed it into her face, invigorating her consciousness. She let out an audible yawn and stretched. She heard a rustle in a bush about eighty feet away. /Can't…deal…with monsthers…too early…/ she tended to slur when she woke up too. /Dammit./

She retrieved her binoculars from her pocket and pointed them to the bush. /Monster...? That looks like a shoe to me…/

"Hello-o?" Her voice cracked. She sighed and put her binoculars down. Sometimes she really hated this job. Suddenly, a ball of cold hit her, and she slammed backwards till she slammed into the backpacks at Helix's feet.

"Oo-ohh my fuckin' head—"she muttered, putting a hand up to her head. She could feel Helix jump up behind her without a word. She heard a gunshot. Her head was still pounding and her hands were blue and purple. /Good god what /was/ that???/ Instinctively she pulled out her gun from her holster and looked up. A black spikey-haired dude ran behind two indistinguishable people—one of them looked like a girl in a black hood—and fired. The shot rang through her unthawing hand and she yelped back in pain.

And then they were gone.

"So much for guarding the damn place," Helix stated.

On the ground ahead of them where the escapees had just ran, a trail of blood began.


	8. Help from the Inside

The no sleep thing was a bad idea to begin with. It was funny that they hadn't blindfolded their subjects—normal Shinra procedure. But everyone in line just stared at the little trucks going by with to-be Soldiers sitting inside as if going to war. They looked dazed and confused. The last of the trucks vroomed by, and all was silent again. Nibelheim had turned into some human factory overnight. No one was saying a word. /Why did I go through with this...why did I not listen to that lady? /why/??/ Maya scrunched up her face in distaste and regret. /This is too scary…too demanding of me, I'm not able to do this! Even for Professor!/ The line moved slowly, with two red guards in front, two in the middle, and two in the back. Maya was one of the first in line. She still couldn't believe she was going through with this…

They had removed all her clothes, and the red lights threw strange shadows everywhere. It wasn't dark it was just…creepy. The cover swooshed slowly over her body, and snapped shut. /Can I even breathe in this thing?/ A metallic voice sounded over the intercom.

"Relax yourself, take a nap if you'd like—" /Yeah right, we just woke up about two hours ago--/ "and do not move any limbs or body parts. Initiation will begin in a few minutes."

A million thoughts ran through Maya's mind, clogging up her usual calmness and tranquility. Suddenly, the red lights out her little peephole began flashing, and her upper body stiffened up. /What are they going to do to me?/ she cried out in her mind.

A steady whooshing sound began, something clicked, the whooshing paused for a moment, blasted out for half a second, then slowed down to a constant seethe, like a gas chamber or something.

The red lights lowered to dimmer. Progressively, a green light began to emanate inside from the bottom of the pods, and quickly, the pods were aglow.

Maya rested her head back. /Well I can still breathe/ then she felt a warm gush of air seep by both her shoulders. It was odorless, and was a comforting kind of warm. Maybe it had some sleeping gas in it too. Maya absentmindedly relaxed her body and closed her eyes.

* * *

"You're such a slow fuck!" Kirin screamed at Helix. As much as she felt bad yelling at this complacent dude, she didn't like the fact that her victims had slipped away. That's not supposed to happen.

She scrambled up to her feet and put her pistols back in the holster. She started to make her way down from their ledge near the exit, then noticed that Helix wasn't following her. Whirling around, she faced Helix with her hands planted on her hips.

"No cover?" She demanded.

"Well...obviously they're running away, and Kramer assigned us to stay here."

"So? And since when was Nik the boss around here?" She asked defiantly.

Helix turned his head.

"Motherfucker," she growled, and turned back around and sprinted to the exit. It was surrounded by a few trees and some huge boulders. She stuck her head out rather slowly, not believing Helix's theory that they probably didn't have any combat weapons with them.

It was empty.

* * *

Shelby lead the way with Ellie close behind, pulling a hesitant Amos with her.

"God, lose some frikkin' weight! I can't drag you all the way to Midgar you fatass--wait a second--" she paused. "Hey Shelby! How're you planning to get us back to Midgar?"

"Did I say I was gonna make all the plans! Over there by the rocks!" He pointed to a cluster of rocks a few hundred yards away, and the three headed in that direction without any more words.

When they got there, both Shelby and Ellie were wheezing. They didn't notice that Amos just stood there calmly staring at them blankly. Ellie squinted up at him after a moment.

"What...the hell...is...your problem??"

"What are we running away from?" The tone of his voice certainly didn't change.

"Those Turkish bastards who shot at us you moron!" She turned to face Shelby. "...So...how are we supposed to get outta this place?"

"You're the one that didn't do anything for this mission! I had to get my friend myself, you've just been in the way!"

"Gee thanks, if it weren't for me, you'd be sitting on your sorry ass halfway around the globe right now feeling bad because you're too much of a pussy to do anything!" She hissed back.

"Just quiet down, someone's going to hear us-!" Shelby replied, struggling to stay calm.

"Yeah well, don't just go blaming all this shit on me--"

"You're so low-class," Shelby muttered, turning his head to the side and gazing down at the pebbles and broken yellow grass.

"Excuse me, did you just call me low-class?? Don't be a little jackass alright? I'm pretty damn sure I can kick your ass anyway, so don't even go there--you'd better watch--"

"Don't. Move."

The two froze in their movements.

Ellie felt the cold tip of a steel nuzzle of a pistol jab ever so gently into the side of her head. No questions asked, she put both of her hands in helpless defeat and slowly stood up. The nuzzle remained glued to her head.

"Drop all your weapons. Now!"

Shelby grappled for his knife and threw it on the ground beside Ellie. She had a premonition who the invisible figure standing right beyond her view was--that bitch thought she was all that and then some...well she'll learn...but the cold steel right beside her temple told her otherwise than to fight back. Aggravated, she set down her weapon. Amos had none to speak of other than his hands that had knocked over those two people wearing expensive looking suits back there. She didn't even know how. He didn't even say anything, he just waved his hand at them, pointed at them, and the next thing she knew, the one who looked like a chick had flown back about six yards. He just sat there dumbfounded, staring up at her and the person behind her.

Suddenly she felt her scrawny hands clamp the back of her neck, touching the right nerve spots so she cringed, her neck craning back. /Stupid broad, I'm gonna kill her...yep I'm gonna kill her,/ The invisible figure forced Ellie to turn, and she saw from the corner of her eye the wave of a pistol, beckoning Shelby and Amos to follow. Shelby had to drag Amos up to his feet, as he was squatted down amusing himself with a few strands of yellow dried grass stems. /The hell is his problem.../

* * *

The first thing she remembered was standing in an insanely bright room in the middle of a straight line of uniformed soldiers. It was a huge room with a row of rectangle windows lining the entire upper level of the room. The sun was so bright, she had to squint to look up at them. She looked down at herself and found herself wearing a pair of bright blue pants, black boots that went up to her mid-calves, and a blue jacket with black accessories. /Great going Professor...now I'm all ready for the battlefield./ She mused. Suddenly, a rod was shoved into her face, a red-coated sergeant nudging it at her again, and she reluctantly took the weapon, preceded with an angry yell from the sergeant to respond more quickly next time or face the consequences. /So this is what it is to be in the militia...I'm a student! I shouldn't be here!/

After a strenuous workout, along with the realization that she had much more strength within her that she never knew of, a quick recess followed. The crowd of blue-uniforms streamed out of the room. Without much thought, she followed the others, too dazed and frustrated with herself to look at her surroundings. She followed the blue person in front of her, leading her out to a few hallways, down a few dim-lit stairwells, and out a steel reinforced door into a wide open area. To her right was a mass of high-rise buildings, which from where she stood, looked like it kept going and going, climbing higher into the sky. /This isn't Nibelheim.../ To her left was a railing made of solid metal and brass. She slowly moved toward it and looked down. About two hundred feet below them was the ocean. Only then did she notice the massive construction going on a few hundred yards from her exit. /Junon.../ She shook her head. It was a wonderful thing to be in such a legendary and beautiful metropolis, now larger than ever. Most of the refugees from the former Midgar had massed over to the city, forcing it to expand vertically and horizontally. It was now about two times as wide and gained another hundred feet in the making. But the primary reason she was here wasn't exciting at all. She didn't even want to be here for this purpose. She put her head in her hands. The waves crashed incessantly but faintly below her--the constant uproar of the builders and bosses yelling at their employees at the construction site was enough to drown out most sounds.

Amid the crashing, drilling, and hammering, she heard a different roar, like a faint rolling thunder disturbing the peace. Barely moving her head, she looked up out towards the water and saw an aircraft of massive proportions making its way rather quickly to where she stood. It was only seconds before the engines blasted above and over her. She could hear the pilot hit the break and the whine of the landing gear adjusting itself. She turned her head and stared as the aircraft disappeared above the rise of the buildings.

/I don't want to be here.../ She saw that some of the soldiers were already returning to the steel door. She heard a whistle, and grudgingly turned around, dragging herself off the rail. Suddenly a thought came over her. /What if I didn't show to practice...maybe they'd discharge me and let me go back to Vertigo.../ Stopping mid-step, she curiously looked up to where the plane disappeared.

* * *

"Here's those wretched son-of-bitches," Kirin exclaimed, shoving the girl toward the red sergeant. She knew the man with her would follow. "You bastards are lucky I didn't shoot you both when I had the chance," she muttered, walking away.

Ellie spit disgustedly in her direction, then turned back to face the red giant in front of her.

"Now /that/, my friend, is one big motherfucker," she said, leaning her head toward Shelby. Her hands were tied up, as well as Shelby's. Shelby paid no attention. He hadn't talked to her ever since they separated them from Amos. They said they needed him. Just by the look in his eyes, anyone could tell something wasn't right--an educated mind could tell it was mako... For a minute, the sergeant stood there. Suddenly, two blue-clad soldiers marched in. The sergeant muttered something as he turned away, and the soldiers immediately made their way to the two prisoners and marched them out of the room.

Ellie tried to pay attention to where they were heading, but every hallway, ever door looked exactly the same.

"Just where the hell are you taking us??" She cried.

They didn't reply.

"What're you, fucking machines or something??"

They still didn't say anything.

Ellie glanced at Shelby, but he kept his head straight. She sighed and slouched her shoulders, still keeping an unwavering eye at her surroundings. After a few more doors, they were thrown into separate cells, seven by seven, complete with a personal toilet and retractable bench that could almost cover for a sleeping mechanism.

"Thanks a lot big boy," she shouted after the two soldiers as they proceeded to slam the door to the cells and walk away. She didn't notice any guards when they walked in..."Hey Shelby, you alright?"

"I'm not talking to you."

"Aw come on, don't be such a crybaby!"

"..."

"I swear I won't ever cuss!"

"..."

"Or make mean comments anymore!"

"..."

"Um...I won't ever look at you."

"..."

"Um um...I'll get you out of here!"

"..."

"Honest to God Shelby, what the fuck is your problem!"

"..."

"Look. Shit I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so 'low-class.' Dammit!! Um...oh come on man, I'll be nice!"

"Will you just shut up!"

"Gah, chill out! When we get home, I'll make you dinner!"

"You're not going home with me."

"Talk about bitter..." Ellie commented to herself. She let go of the bars and seated herself on the hard bench. There was mute silence for a few minutes. In the distance beyond the walls of the barricade, she could hear some sort of banging metal and massive drilling going on. Suddenly, she heard the door to the cells open. She glanced up and saw a blue uniform strut in. The door swished behind her.

"Uh...I'm supposed to tell you that you--" she stood between her and Shelby's cell "two will be executed at seventeen o'clooo--..."

Ellie leaned forward so she could see the guard more fully. The guard stood there with a straight back but a hand pawing at her face.

"Aren't you...?" The guard mused, like she was talking to herself.

"Get on with it soldier!" Ellie growled. /So they're going to kill us...for abducting a newbie...okay.../ She rolled her eyes and stood up, making her way to the bars. The guard was shorter than her /that's fucked up!/ and she glowered menacingly. Ever so slowly, the guard reached up and started pulling her helmet over her head.

Locks of golden hair fell over her brittle blue uniform, revealing a familiar face.

"Hey..." Ellie stared at her for a second, while the she-guard looked back at her in silence.

"You're that girl that...Maya! Heyyy, so you made it! Good for you, now get us out of here."

She heard a shuffle come from Shelby's cage.

"I--I--I don't know if I can do that!" Maya stuttered.

"Oh sure you can! It's in the Shinra rule book, rule number five hundred and six: On account of the prisoner, if they ask to be released, by all means please effin' do. Come on, you got the keys right?"

"Wull...actually, I'm new here. I skipped a practice session because I want to get out of here."

"So come on 'n join us! Right Shelby?"

"..."

"Um...he's got a disease on his tongue and doesn't like to show it off to strangers. Come on you're with the Shinra, you should know these things!"

"I--I'm new here!"

"Well look for a box that says 'free prisoners' or something,"

Maya, still cradling her helmet, scampered off to the entrance of the cell room to search for anything useful, as Ellie stuck her head out and watched.

"You think you're so clever," came a voice from her right. "How do you think you're going to get us out of here? Everyone knows we're prisoners, you moron!"

"Oh don't be such a siss....sassy little thang! I'll think of something, just trust me!"

"Hmph..."

"I think I found it!"

Ellie turned her eyes back to Maya. She stood in front of a small mechanism right beside the door. It was open with a column of red buttons.

"Well press'm all!"

"Wait...C3...C4..."

They heard a light tapping sound, a beep, then the cell bars swooshed open.

"Alright Maya! A seasoned pro!" Ellie jumped out and patted Maya on the back. Her frail frame shook as Ellie pounded her.

"Actually, I'm a student..."

"Actually, you're a clown...come on, let's go!" Ellie grabbed Maya's hand, glanced back at Shelby, who stood mutely behind her. She made sure he followed, and she led them out of the cell room.

There was no one in the immediate hallways, but as they passed through a stairwell climbing up, they noticed two guards making their rounds outside the door of the stairwell.

"Crappers...hey Shelby," she jabbed him in the side. "How about we waste'm and take their clothes so no one'll know we're here! Great huh?"

Shelby just shook his head. "You can't fight for crap,"

"Bull-/shit/ Shelby and you know that! I beat the hell out of Amos! You saw!"

"Yeah, and what about the second time?"

"Second schmecond, I still kicked his ass!"

"SHH!!" Maya hissed, motioning towards the door.

The two guards burst into the stairwell, sticks raised.

"Haha oh puh-leease," Ellie laughed. She stopped short when Shelby knocked both of them out with two single punches. He glared at her through the corner of his eye.

"Okay, so you gimme a chance there," Ellie scowled, dragging a guard toward the corner.

The three finally made their way out into the public, the streets lined with a brass tint, the buildings rising high overhead. A helicopter hovered nearby, and there were a few people mingling outside near the buildings and alleys.

"So let's get you some weapons, ey?" Ellie hinted to Shelby.

He rolled his eyes and shook his hand at her. "I'll go get them, you two find somewhere to stay till we can find a way back to Midgar." With that, he marched off toward the buildings. Ellie forced out a frustrated sigh.

" 'Midgar'...why does he call it Midgar? It's not called that anymore," Maya wondered aloud.

Ellie started for the section of the building ahead of her with a label that read "Open Pub_ShinRa Employees Only".

"Eh, he's got some problem with the Shinra...not that I don't speak for myself." Maya didn't catch on with the last statement.

"I like the Shinra, they're not all bad people."

"Bad people? God Maya, how naive can you be? Professor Asshole put you in Soldier--I mean come on, he didn't even give you a choice did he? Would you call that doing you a favor? I mean look at you now!"

Maya pursed her lips and continued following her. /She's not gonna give up.../ Ellie smiled and walked into the bar. The low ceiling made her feel just a tad crowded, but she refused to take off her helmet, considering the fact that right in front of her sat two Turks.

* * *

"What's he planning to do with us??" Kirin demanded, glaring at Nik. He ignored her stare.

"Heidegger said, in plain English my friend," he pointed a finger into Kirin's face.

"Don't give me that," she batted his hand away as he chuckled.

"He told me that he's transporting us to Vertigo to run some errands for him."

"Errands?? Are you fucking kidding me? I am a Turk damn him, I am /not/ going to that shithole to bs around and do his work that he's too lazy to do himself."

"Errands, Kirin, errands."

She raised his eyes at him.

"You're a frikkin' idiot," he shook his head and motioned for another glass of beer.

"Hi, how ya'll doing?"

Kirin and Nik simultaneously turned their heads, staring at the two blue guards that strode inside, taking a seat next to Nik. The perky one sat next to Nik. After a split second, Nik grinned and put his arm around the guard.

"Well, you see, my good pal--" He gave the guard's shoulder a shake, "we're here on business so if you don't /fucking/ mind," he squeezed his shoulders tight that he could hear the guard give out a little "irk", "I would appreciate it if you left us two the /fuck/ alone."

"God you like to say that," the guard muttered as he shook off Nik's arm.

Kirin smirked at Nik. As much as she hated him, she couldn't help but love his sadistic personality.

"Ooh you're so evil, you make me all tingly inside," she shuddered, grasping her mug.

"Fuck you."

"I beg to differ on that," she snickered. If she looked, she would have seen the extremely pissed off expression on Nik's face. "Let's have a little fun..." She turned back to the guards, leaning over the counter so she could see them. They had ordered coffee. "So how do you like the Shinra? You fellas look new here," she exclaimed brightly. The two turned their heads. "Say," Kirin continued, "why don't you take off your despicable masks, I can't see your faces."

"Well actually, we kind of like it. Makes us feel special...you know...besides, how else would they tell if we were guards in this place?" The one nearest Nik spoke.

Nik looked away disgustedly. Kirin laughed.

"Oh you're too much, come on, you can take them off in here, we'll just say you're our friends!" She winked at Nik. He was too busy staring at the revolutions of the fan above their heads.

"Thank-you but that's alright. Anyway...you guys are the Turks, right? What kind of stuff are you guys doing nowadays?"

"We run errands for the important people, 'cause everyone up there is pretty damn gay." Kirin stated after she felt Nik kick her in the shins. She didn't even wince.

"Oh how interesting...so do we. What makes you guys so special?"

Kirin looked up in admiration. /Wow, a couple of smartasses. Hehehe.../

"Well we're special because the big guys like us. Unlike you soldiers, you're all pawns. You think that buckle on your belt is real silver? Bullshit, it's fucking lead, 'cause all of you are too stupid to realize that. Pure lead. But I guess it wouldn't affect you guys much 'cause you don't know any better."

"What the fuck is your problem??" The guard demanded, setting down her cup of coffee.

"Excusi-fucking-mwah," Kirin stood up. The guard followed her motion. Nik sighed so loud the entire bar could hear it and leaned his chin on his hand. The other guard only turned his head to look at his partner's commotion.

"You wanna fucking fight about it? You're not all that hot shit like you claim to be!"

Kirin pulled out brass knuckles from her back pocket. "Take this shit outside, you're gonna pay!"

"I'll fuck you up!" The guard exclaimed. He turned to the door. At the same moment, another guard walked in and noticed the hubbub.

"Get a grip you blockhead," he exclaimed as he knocked the soldier on the head as he walked by to the second soldier. "Come on, we're getting out of here," he whispered to the second soldier. He grabbed the first by the arm and pulled her out the door. He stormed off into an alleyway, and the two guards followed him.

"Well that settles that," Kirin grinned, wiping off her hands and putting the knuckles back in her pocket. She settled back in her stool, and the occupants in the bar averted their gazes back to their sizzling beer.

"You fucking do that again and I'm going to find myself a new fucking partner." Kirin's appeased grin turned into a horrible scowl.

"What did you just say? What in God's name is your problem? You've been flackin' attitude since the minute we got on the flight, and since fucking when were you my fucking boss??" She demanded. A few eyes went back to her direction. Kirin took an angry slurp of her beer.

Nik calmly turned his body to face hers.

"Ever since Heidegger appointed me to be the leader, you dumbass. Apparently you never showed up to that meeting because you were too busy jerking off somewhere--"

"!!"

"Yeah, whatever Kirin, fuck you, you still want to kiss my ass? I might let you easy this time. Actually, I think I'm going to sit my ass down right here in Junon while I send you and Helix to Midgar,"

"Vertigo, you cocksucker,"

"It's fucking Midgar. Even you know that, considering you're so fucking dense you couldn't even tell that guard was fucking your with your mind."

"Fuck you!"

"Are you seriously that stupid? That guard was one of those fucking prisoners you brought back with us you ass,"

With that, Nik put down his cup, dropped a gil on the counter and stood up. Kirin stared at him all the way to the door. He turned around as his hand was on the door.

"By the way, baby, they're not my responsibility," he turned and opened the door. It slammed shut from a sudden burst of wind.

* * *

"Are you seriously that retarded??"

"God I was just trying to start a conversation,"

"By taking it outside? I can't trust you anymore," Shelby trailed off, lowering his eyes. Ellie looked pleadingly at Maya. She shook her head and shrugged. "That wasn't a really smart thing to do..." She said quietly. Ellie sighed and flapped her arms to her sides. She put her helmet back on.

"Well...sorry." She sat down next to a dumpster. Shelby didn't say anything. Maya went to Ellie's side after a few moments. "He'll get over it," she whispered. She patted her on her shoulder. Suddenly she crouched back against the dumpster. Ellie looked up and looked down the alley where Maya was staring.

That tall Turk that she had sat next to was sauntering by the alley's entrance. He paused for a moment, then looked down the alley straight at them.

"He knows-!" Maya breathed.

He stood there for a couple more seconds, waved with a smile, then continued walking.

"What the fuck...?"

"We'd better get out of here," Shelby exclaimed. He started jogging down the alleyway--at the end was a doorway. They quickly slipped inside, feeling a little less stressed.

"Say...can we say free beer...?" Ellie's face started to glow as she looked around.

"It's a storage, moron," Shelby grumbled as he started throwing empty cartons aside to get to the door at the end of the room.


End file.
